Cox Lab Moves to Krasnow Institute

Dear Jim,

Many thanks for the opportunity to contribute to your blog. My research group and I are very excited to be moving our laboratory from the Prince William Campus to the beautiful new facilities at the Krasnow Institute for Advanced Study this Fall. Prior to joining the Department of Molecular and Microbiology at George Mason in Fall 2004, I completed my PhD in the laboratory of Dr. Haifan Lin at Duke University where my research focused on the molecular mechanisms governing stem cell regulation. I next went on to complete postdoctoral training as a Jane Coffin Childs Fellow in the laboratory of Dr. Yuh-Nung Jan at UCSF where my research focused on investigating the molecular and regulatory mechanisms governing class-specific dendrite morphogenesis.

Presently, my research laboratory is focused on a number of key areas of inquiry including the mechanisms by which the size, shape and complexity of dendritic arbors is achieved and subsequently regulated, how the boundaries of neuronal receptive fields are specified and refined, how dendrites function in mediating recognition between synaptic partners, and how dendritic fields are established, maintained and remodeled during development.

To investigate these questions, we use Drosophila genetics to dissect the molecular mechanisms mediating class specific dendrite morphogenesis. The Drosophila peripheral nervous system (PNS) serves as a molecular, genetic, morphological and physiological model system in which to investigate these processes. Specifically, our group is focused on the roles of transcriptional, cytoskeletal, cell surface receptor, and RNAi (siRNA/miRNA) regulatory mechanisms governing class-specific dendrite morphogenesis as they relate to dendritic field specification and dendritic tiling. We have also recently published a paper describing novel methods for the isolation and transcriptional expression profiling of class-specific neurons as a tool to investigate these processes.

Apart from my research program, I am currently the Graduate Program Director for the Biosciences PhD and M.S. Biology degree programs at Mason and am delighted to take on the role as Director for the new Confocal Imaging Core of the Krasnow Institute (C.I.C.K.I.).

I am particularly anxious to establish new collaborations with other Krasnow Investigators in the areas of high-resolution cellular imaging and neuroinformatics and look forward to interacting with all the faculty, students, and staff in the Neuroscience program.

Sincerely,

Dan Cox